


The room was humming harder

by sableflynn



Category: Original Work
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Forced to Watch, Gen, Self-Sacrifice, Torture, Whump, tied to a pole
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:40:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22090447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sableflynn/pseuds/sableflynn
Summary: When a quick intel run goes south, Darya and Kailo end up in the hands of the very criminal they were investigating.
Kudos: 8
Collections: Bad Things Happen Bingo





	The room was humming harder

**Author's Note:**

> Written for "tied to a pole" prompt for Bad Things Happen Bingo.

The first thing he was aware of was a dull pounding in his head.

Kailo blinked, made to press his palm into his forehead—but no, his arms wouldn’t move, so he tried to call out, but his mouth was blocked, and he tried to move forward—

Everything slammed into a sudden clarity.

He was tied to a thick beam, rough rope chafing his wrists, holding him upright so he couldn’t sit or take a step forward, wrapping around his throat so he couldn’t even turn his head too far without feeling the constriction. A cloth gag muffled his frantic breathing. All he could see was the bare concrete wall across from him. 

_We messed up._ The memory came back to him in a flash. It was supposed to be a straightforward intel run but they got caught, he remembered taking a blow to the head before falling into darkness, and Darya—

He renewed his struggles against the rope, ignoring how they chafed his skin, until he felt gentle hands take hold of his own from somewhere behind him. Fingers entwined with his and gave a calming press, and he realized Darya must be tied to the pole too, on the other side. He tried to call out to her through the gag, and heard her voice give a muffled reply. So they were here together, at least. Wherever _here_ was. 

Kailo felt icy dread settle in the pit of his stomach. They had botched their mission completely, the team wasn’t expecting them back for at least a few hours, and now they were trapped with no clue where they were, no way of contacting anyone, no way of even _moving_ , unable to do anything but squeeze each other’s hands and wait. 

The bang of a door out of his line of vision made Kailo jump, his wrists protesting where the rope was already beginning to rub them raw. Heavy footsteps echoed in the room, and he could hear Darya growling something unintelligible through the gag. A figure came to stand at their side, and if he turned his head the little he was allowed, he could see the man out of the corner of his eye.

Claude Volkan. The black hole at the center of everything they were investigating. The supposed philanthropist and eminent magical researcher who, behind closed doors, crushed all those in the way of his ambition, kidnapping, torturing, _murdering_ anyone who stood against him. And they were trapped who-knew-where with him, tied to a pole.

“So these are the rats my men found scurrying around my business.”

Volkan began to circle around them, stepping first into Kailo’s field of vision. His heart was pounding as he watched the man approach, unable to move away as Volkan grabbed his chin and tilted his head up to stare into his eyes. Volkan smirked at whatever he saw there but said nothing, dropping Kailo’s chin after a moment and continuing to circle around to Darya. 

“Luckily for you,” his voice echoed through the room, “you didn’t find anything worth killing you over.” His footsteps stopped on the other side of the pole, and Darya shouted through the gag. Volkan laughed. “Unluckily for you,” he continued, “I’ve had a really frustrating day and just need to beat the shit out of something for a few hours.”

Kailo’s breaths were coming out short, shallow through his nose, and he felt like he was suffocating on the gag. Volkan had paced around them and returned to the side of the pole, just within Kailo’s peripheral vision. He saw the glint of tools hanging from his belt. A knife. A baton. A hammer. 

“Why don’t we make this fun?” Volkan’s hand was resting across the weapons and his eyes gleamed in the dim light. “I’ll hurt you both for...oh, let’s say two hours. When we’re done, I’ll cut you free, and you can crawl back to whatever hole you came from.” He laughed. “Assuming you can still move, of course.” 

Darya grasped his hands and he returned the pressure, grounding himself, trying not to think about just how much pain Volkan could cause them in a few hours. But he couldn’t block out the voice, piercing through the haze of his pounding head. 

“This is how this will work. I’m gonna pick one of you to hurt first, and just fuck you up for a bit until you give me a good _scream_.” Volkan’s voice was dripping delighted anticipation. “Once you scream, I’ll switch to hurting your friend, until _they_ scream, and then I’ll switch back again.” Kailo was shaking his head frantically, a futile gesture that just rubbed rope burns harder into his neck, but this _couldn’t_ be happening, there had to be a way out…

“And we’re gonna start with…” A glint of light in the air, was he really _flipping a coin_ to decide who he was going to torture first? Volkan caught the coin, glanced at the result, and grinned. “...This one.” And to Kailo’s horror, he moved to the other side of the pole, towards Darya, who was already thrashing against her bonds and yelling through the gag again.

_No. Not Darya._ She was so brave, and stubborn, and he knew it would be a matter of pride to her to not scream as long as possible. He wouldn’t be able to do anything but listen as she was tortured behind him. And she would be doing it to _protect_ him.

He heard the rustle of cloth behind him, and a sharp gasp from Darya as the gag was removed from her mouth. “You sack of shit,” she immediately hissed, “You fucking bastard, you—”

A sharp slap rang out, and Volkan laughed. “You’re a mouthy one.”

“I don’t care _what_ you do, you—” Another slap cut off her words. “Just go ahead and—” Another slap. “I’m gonna—” Another slap. And another. The sound of each slap shot through Kailo like a physical pain, like he was the one getting slapped, and even that comparison made him feel guilty when Darya was actually getting beaten right behind him.

She was panting now, hands gripping Kailo’s as she pulled against the ropes. “ _Fuck_ you,” she spat out.

“Oh, you’re going to be _so much_ fun,” Volkan replied, and Kailo heard the _woosh_ of the baton being swung through the air. “Let’s start with this.” 

Another _woosh_ , this time followed by a dull smack. Darya jerked slightly against the bonds but made no sound. Another blow, and Darya let out a shaky laugh. “Is this it? I thought you were gonna try to hurt me!” 

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m just feeling you out.” The sadistic joy in Volkan’s voice made Kailo tense. “This is going to get a _lot_ worse for you.” Two blows in quick succession, and Kailo felt her jerk again as all the air left her. She gasped in a shallow breath and said through gritted teeth, “Then just...get on with it already.”

Volkan then began beating her in earnest. The blows rained down, sending tremors through Darya with each impact. She kept up a steady stream of insults and curses throughout, but Kailo could hear the small breaks in her voice, the way she took a bit longer to catch her breath each time. He had nothing to focus on but the bare wall in front of him and the pained sounds of torture behind him. Every gasp, every tiny cry was like a knife to the gut.

There was a pause in the beatings. Kailo gripped Darya’s hands tighter, and she growled out behind him, “Will you hurry up and get _serious_? I don’t think I can take two hours of this boredom.” Her breathing was becoming more ragged. _Please, please stop taunting him, we just need to get through this without him killing us._ Darya’s mouth had gotten them into trouble plenty of times before, but the stakes were never this high. Volkan would _kill them_ if they said the wrong thing. 

But instead, Volkan just hummed in amusement at her insults. “Let’s try something else, then,” he said. Kailo heard the soft whisper of steel on leather, the sound of a knife being drawn. _No, he’s going to cut her, he’s going to bleed her to death, and I can’t do a thing to stop it, and we’re trapped here—_ he tried to calm his breathing, rubbing circles into the back of Darya’s hands with his thumbs. 

Without warning, she spasmed behind him and let out a strangled cry that didn’t quite manifest as a scream. _He stabbed her. But where—_

“Is _this_ more your speed?” Volkan snarled, and Darya writhed some more, and Kailo would swear he could hear the sound of the knife in her flesh. Darya let out another cry, a _fuck you_ through gritted teeth. Her hands felt slippery within his own, and he realized with a jolt that they were already covered in blood.

Kailo wondered if it was better or worse that he couldn’t see what was happening. He was hyper-aware of every tremble, every tiny noise Darya let slip, every half-hidden signal that her composure was slowly crumbling as Volkan cut into her more and more. She wasn’t talking anymore; it felt like she was using all her energy to keep from screaming. Kailo was left with his imagination to fill in exactly what was happening behind him. The smell of blood was thick in the air by now, Darya’s hands sticky with it. 

“You know,” Volkan said, his voice a drawl. “You can still stop this any time you want.” Darya gave a shuddering breath that sounded almost like a sob. Volkan continued. “You can scream any time, and then I’ll leave you alone and go fuck with this boy over here for a bit. Just _one good scream_.” 

_Please, Darya,_ Kailo thought. _Just do it. Let me take some of the pain for you._

Darya coughed, spat. “Nn—not happening.” Kailo could feel her hands shaking, but she pressed on. “You’re not going to touch him.”

_You don’t need to protect me._

“Well, as fun as you are, I’m feeling about ready to move on now,” Volkan said. “So I’m really going to need you to scream for me.” Darya’s hands were gripping his tight enough to bruise. Ears straining, Kailo could faintly hear the rustle as Volkan sheathed his knife and drew a new weapon. A soft _woosh_ , the dull impact of metal on flesh—Kailo could practically see Volkan swinging the hammer in the air, testing its heft on his palm.

Darya took a deep breath and slowly released it. Kailo tried to do the same.

A swing, and a _crunch_.

Darya screamed.

For a heartbeat, the only sound was the drip of blood and Darya’s pained gasping.

Then Darya was pleading, her voice steadily rising as she became more frantic. “No, no, please stop, _don’t_ , don’t you dare, don’t hurt him, _don’t touch him, please—mmf—_ ” Her begging was cut off as Volkan wrestled the gag back into her mouth, reducing her to muffled shouts. Kailo’s heart clenched at the sound of her pleading for _him_ , after she refused to plead for herself this entire time. 

Heavy footsteps, then Volkan was standing in front of him in the dim light. He still held the hammer, his hands tacky with blood. Kailo’s face paled at the sight of it. _Just how much blood has Darya lost already?_

Volkan considered him, then slid the hammer back into his belt. He reached his hands for Kailo’s face, and Kailo flinched reflexively—but Volkan was just removing the gag.

For a moment, they just watched each other. Kailo could feel Darya’s furious, silent sobs behind him. He knew he should say something comforting or defiant or brave, anything to show Volkan he wasn’t afraid. But his mind was blank and his breath was short, sharp gasps, and Volkan was pulling the baton from his belt. 

Slowly, luxuriating in the fear and anticipation, Volkan trailed the tip of the baton up Kailo’s chest. He paused just below the chin, then used the baton to gently tilt Kailo’s face up. Kailo felt frozen by fear, unable to even jerk his head away from the movement.

“Your turn,” Volkan said, and he swung the baton. 


End file.
